NxWorries - Yes Lawd

NxWorries
Yes Lawd!
2016
Spotify

At this point we have to ask what in the fuck can Anderson .paak not do? He released a fantastic solo record this year and performed on many of the greatest tracks. However not to be outdone .paak has returned with producer Knxwledge to give us this new record Yes Lawd!. If we are going to talk about people having a year. Anderson may have a claim to the best of all time. He has gone from somewhat obscurity to every beatmakers favorite collaborator and Festival headliner basically in the span of a year. "Livin" is essentially a synopsis of Anderson's rise to prominence and has that same celebratory style as some of hip hop's best like "Juicy". This album however is much more expansive than Anderson .paak telling his life story and is more focused on highlighting Knx's beats rather than Anderson's vocal talents. The songs are short, concise and more focused than most of what Knx has done before. They can be beautiful and bright like on "Wngs" or somber and mournful like :What More Can I Say?". The record flows like a mixtape with plenty of tiny interludes and cut aways, they do little to actually impact but give you that same feeling that a lot of 90s hip hop did. Yet Knx is still able to keep it totally modern and fresh.

One of the better lines on the record comes on "Lyk Dis" where Anderson sings/raps "Don't call me Common/ call me Crazy". This line matters because many people want to categorize Anderson as a rapper, yet unlike Drake who raps and dabbles in singing Anderson seems to be more of a singer first. This is partially why He is so in demand right now, His delivery is just so different from everyone else's but in the best way. Often you will find people trying to alter their voice to get the same tones that Anderson does, but his is simply effortless. The depth of music here is dense to say the least as Knx brings rich track after track. You could almost turn this into an instrumental and be perfectly happy but the addition of Anderson's vocals just make it fucking soar. "H.A.N." has an almost James Brown-esque close that despite the somewhat awkward subject matter is really fun and singals a change in the record where things tend to get more pop. "Scared Money" has an almost early Michael Jackson sound to the music that Anderson just croons right over. Yes Lawd! is just another triumph in Anderson .paak's quickly growing list and is also a reminder of how great of a producer Knxwledge is. It may be late, but make sure you don't let 2016 slip by without throwing this one on.

8.8 out of 10